


Lost Solace

by dimplelegacy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Day 6: Haircut, Fluff, M/M, Season 3, SheithMonth2k17, bit of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 10:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11712621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimplelegacy/pseuds/dimplelegacy
Summary: Keith pulls his hand away like he's been burnt, his fingers accidentally pulling on few of Shiro's hair strands in the process, and surely that should wake Shiro up. But his breath hitches when he realizes that no, Shiro is still sleeping, even though the Shiro he knows is the lightest sleeper in the universe. Now, he sleeps calmly, after all this time.Like he isn't even alive.





	Lost Solace

**Author's Note:**

> This is what s3 did to me and I had to release the pain. And now I have to just pray and pray and pray. 
> 
> This is un-betad so be aware. And enjoy, possibly? Happy Sheith month.

_There's a creaking sound. An old but familiar scent. Keith opens his eyes._

 

_'Oh,' he thinks, recognizing the walls covered with notes. He looks around, his limbs numb from sleeping on the floor. Others are gathered around him, sleeping in uncomfortable positions like he himself – cadets from Garrison that he yet doesn't know very well, but who will be the most important people in his life._

 

_He's forgetting someone else though, so he turns his head, looks at the person on the bed, that he's leaning against. Shiro has opened his eyes and he's looking at Keith with a tired smile. Keith takes in the deep scar on his face and his hair that once was almost as dark as Keith's own, but is now partly white. Shiro's eyes have changed too, his bright gaze is shadowed with something that Keith can’t name. But when Shiro is watching him, and the frown disappears from his face while he smiles at Keith, Keith knows that the bond between them isn't one of the things that have changed._

 

” _Hey, he says with a raspy voice._

 

_Shiro answers him, whispering like it's a precious moment that can be broken any second, ”Hey.”_

  
  
  
  


_-_

  
  
  
  


_Then Keith re-lives another moment._

 

_It's the silent, calm moment after the trials. His body has been pushed to a limit and past it, he doesn't even have the energy to take of the sweaty suit. He can only lay down on the bed in his room and feel Shiro's eyes calculating his every move. Shiro insists on helping him get the suit off, but Keith snaps at him because he just wants to rest. When Shiro finally gives up and stops fussing, Keith notices how he stands up and intends to leave. The movement makes him realize that besides rest, there's something else he wants._

 

_His hand reaches out, fingers closing around Shiro's wrist. ”Stay,” he voices out his most inner thoughts, something he rarely does._

 

_Shiro's eyes are warm as he nods at Keith._

 

_They end up laying side by side on the bed. The narrow space doesn't bother them, and when Shiro touches Keith shoulder in a caress, Keith's heart starts beating frantically, repeating the mantra ”love love love love” inside him. It's like warm pulse, overwhelming and comforting. Keith blames his next reckless move on the exhaustion and his dizzy head – he slides his fingers into Shiro's hair, surprised at the soft feel of its' strands. Shiro doesn't protest, only closes his eyes and moves his hand from Keith's shoulder to the center of his back. The pressure is warm and Keith lets himself be pulled closer to Shiro, his head finding a safe place under Shiro's chin. He can hear Shiro whisper small, comforting words and Keith can only stroke his hair as an answer._

 

_Despite the pain, he has never felt more content in his life._

  
  
  
  


_-_

  
  
  
  


The dreams come to a halt and Keith wakes up, gasping for breath. His eyes search frantically around the room, trying to catch up with the reality. First, he remembers Shiro's disappearance and the anguish threaten to swallow him until he remembers, that they found him.

 

Before he even realizes, he's out of his bed. The cold sweat on his back makes the black shirt cling to his skin. His pulse is still quick as he wanders through the castle's halls, only stopping when he's in front of Shiro's door.

 

” _You don't need to knock, Keith. You can come anytime you want,”_ he remembers Shiro saying those words to him a long time ago. Only now he takes those words to his heart and enters the room quietly.

 

He expects the noise of the door to wake Shiro, but his body is still on the bed. Keith takes cautious steps towards the sleeping form, feeling how dry his throat is. He has an urge to crawl into the bed, sleep beside Shiro. That same urge might have been the reason why he decided to come here.

 

But something stops him. His courage fails him, his feet stopping beside the bed. He drops to his knees and settles to watch Shiro's sleeping face. The new haircut makes him frown – Shiro's hair is shorter than before, and even though it doesn't differ much from his old one, somehow Keith feels strange about it. Shiro has never felt foreign to him, not in any circumstances. But now he is not so sure.

 

He hates feeling like this. Being with Shiro is something that has always ground him and now without it, he feels like his body is upside down and he can't separate right from wrong.

 

Slowly he moves closer and reaches out his hand until the tips of his fingers are gracing the white strands on Shiro's forehead. Keith waits for his eyes to open.

 

A mental image penetrates his mind like a cold steel of knife sinking into his brain. Shiro's eyes open, but they are dark instead of bright gray, his voice sounds hoarse like he has screamed for days, when he says one word, ”Voltron,” before grabbing Keith's wrist and then he's pending Keith's whole arm, twists it into unnatural position and Keith hears his bones crack. The pain clouds his vision and then he feels Shiro's hands on his throat, suppressing his scream, fingers tearing at his flesh. He chokes and then his life is like a flickering light of a candle, faint until Shiro's breathe hits it -- then it's gone.

 

Keith pulls his hand away like he's been burnt, his fingers accidentally pulling on few of Shiro's hair strands in the process, and surely that should wake Shiro up. But his breath hitches when he realizes that no, Shiro is still sleeping, even though the Shiro he knows is the lightest sleeper in the universe. Now, he sleeps calmly, after all this time.

 

Like he isn't even alive.

 

Keith's eyes widen at the thought and then he removes himself from the situation, from the room. He can't do the same with his thoughts though, and the feeling of something wrong keeps hanging over him even when he is back in his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

 

His solace, his safe heaven is back home, and still, he feels far from safe.


End file.
